To hold and protect
by Morbidmuch
Summary: Leah already knew that she wouldn’t be going home. ‘Edward, I need you’. Edward/OC. Set BEFORE the movie, and none of the events in the movie will take place in the story. I suck at summaries, but please read. NOW COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I finally saw Edward Scissorhands last Friday!! I absolutely loved it, even though I wasn't to keen on Kim's character.

Anyway, this is the first chapter on my new story. I'm only gonna post one chapter, and might not continue with it if I don't get any positive feedback. I'm not blackmailing you into reviewing, but I'm still pretty self-conscious about my ES stories, so all types of feedback is appreciated.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, only Leah.

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**To hold and protect**

**Chapter 1**

"Get her!"

Leah ran as fast as she could, feelings her legs burn with the effort of keeping her standing. The high grass was almost impossible to run in, and when she did the mistake of looking back, she tripped. She fell down flat on her face, gasping as pain shot up through her ankle. This had all started an hour earlier with the usual taunting. But this time however, Leah had not just stood there and taken it, she had defended herself, which had caused her to have to run. Before she could stand up though, she felt hands on her back and arms, turning her around. Standing over her were three boys in her class, all of them smirking at her.

'_Edward, help me!'_ she thought as she looked up in face of one of the boys.

"You're gonna get what you deserve, freak," the tallest boy whose name was Mark said, and then aimed a kick to her side. She cried out in pain, feeling tears fall out of her hazel eyes.

"Let go of me!" her voice rose in pitch as her arms were being held down tightly by the two other boys.

"I'm gonna teach you to stay in your place, freak," Mark sneered at her, and then tried to get the fasting of her jeans undone.

"What are you doing? HELP!" fear reaked through Leah's body when she realized what was happening. They were gonna rape her, and there was nothing she was gonna be able to do about it.

"Shut up you slut," Mark roared, and then hit her hard across her face, her head turning from the blow. Leah could taste the blood in her mouth and the throbbing in her cheek from where Mark had hit her. Feeling dazed, she suddenly realized that he had succeeded in pulling down her pants, and was now trying to get them of her. Screaming loudly, Leah trashed and twisted her body as much as she could. Her shirt was being torn in half by the two guys who held down her arms, and she started to cry harder when they started to tug and grab her breasts through her bra.

'_Edward, please help me!'_she repeated to herself over and over again, as if somehow he would hear her.

"Who's there, what's going on?" a voice was suddenly heard from a few yards away, and Mark, who had been on his way to unbutton his pants, looked up in shock.

"Oh shit, let's go," he fastened his pants and stood up. His two partners looked shocked at him.

"But, what about..."

"Just leave her," he said, and started to run. Only a fraction of a second later the other two followed, leaving Leah bruised and crying on the ground.

"Oh, my God, are you okay?"

Leah opened her eyes to see an elderly man standing there, clearly shocked by what he was seeing. "I-I'm fine," Leah stuttered, and sat up carefully. Pulling her jeans back on, she winced as she saw the beginning of a big bruise on her side. Feeling terribly exposed, she held her torn sweater together with her hands.

"You don't look very fine to me,"

"I promise you, I'm fine," Leah replied, trying to stand up. Feeling dizziness take over her she swayed, almost loosing balance, the man grabbed her arm to revent her from falling. She pulled away her arm as if she'd been burnt, and brushed away a piece of hair from her teary face.

"You have someone at home waiting?"

She nodded. "I have to go," But she already knew that she wouldn't be going home. _'Edward, I need you'_

Limping with every step, she started to walk away from the scene, tears still falling down her pale face. The pain in her side was almost unbearable, and with every step it felt like someone drove a knife through her ankle.

Since every step was so painful, it seemed like hours before she finally spotted the dark castle on the top of the hill. Stroking the beads of sweat from her forehead, she started to walk with determent steps up the hill. It took her over half an hour, though it normally took only 10 minutes.

As she reached the top, she used what was left of her strenght to open the heavy iron gate. She could hear the snipping of Edward's scissors and understood that he was in the garden working on a new sculpture. As she came close enough to see him, she stopped, and just stood and stared at him. The new sculpture was shaped like two people. One taller with what appeared to be hair sticking out everywhere, and one short, more feminine looking person. Seeing him cutting away, completely lost in concentration with this tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth, Leah let out a sob.

Edward heard something behind him, and when he turned around he got the shock of his life. His beautiful Leah was standing there, looking dreadful. She had dirt in her hair, her shirt had been ripped in half, she was crying and a nasty purple bruise started to form on her right cheek. "Leah, what's wrong?" he asked softly, stopping his cutting and walking up to her.

His words seemed to break her from her reverie, and her eyes welled up with fresh tears. Edward looked astonished at her, not understanding why she was so upset.

Seeing the sadness and confusion in his eyes Leah tried, in between sobs, to tell him what had happened.

"I..." sob "they tried..." sob "kicked me..." sob "almost..." sob "raped me..." sob. Her lithe frame was shaking with the force of her sobs, and Edward watched her awkwardly. She was hardly ever sad, always smiling and laughing, and he didn't know what to do.

Holding out his arms, his scissors snipping nervously, Edward only had to wait for a second before Leah ran into his arms. She buried her face in the leather of his suit, closing her eyes. Awkwardly putting his arms around her he angled his scissors so that he wouldn't cut her. He could feel her tears leak through his suit, and leaned his head against her hair.

"Are...are you alright?" he asked tentatively when she had finally stopped sobbing, and Leah pulled back slightly.

"I will be," she said, giving him a small smile through the tears. "Can you help me inside? I don't think I can walk on my own,"

"Off course," Edward replied, willing to do anything to help his friend.

Leah threw her arm around Edward's shoulders, supporting her weight as the mis-matched couple walked inside. On their way, Edward's mind was in a jumble. She had mentioned the word 'rape', but Edward did not understood what it meant. Judging from how she was doing, it couldn't be good.

"This feels better," Leah sighed as she sat down on the couch in the living-room, being careful not to put weight on her sprained ankle. She had helped him clean up the mansion a few months ago, and the ground floor was completely re-decorated. "Ow," she winced as she lightly touched her bruised side. Pulling away her shirt, she looked down at her waist where a bit blue and purple bruise had formed. "I don't think I've cracked any ribs, I wouldn't be able to breathe if I did."

During all this time, Edward had been standing in front of the couch, watching her. After a few more minutes, he dared to ask the question he'd been thinking about ever since she mentioned it. "Leah, what is rape?"

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That was the first chapter...like I said; all kind of feedback is appreciated.

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	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Okay, so this is chapter 2. Please let me know what is good and what is less good, there's always time to improve.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, only Leah

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**To hold and protect**

**Chapter ****2**

"Leah, what is rape?"

Leah's eyes widened at his question. How was she gonna explain this in a way that didn't make him wanna go kill someone? He was very protective of her, and always made sure that she was okay.

"Eh..." she started, trying to find the right words. "Do you remember when I told you about sex?"

Edward nodded.

"Rape is when a man, or sometimes a woman but it's not as common, have sex with a woman or a man even though the partner doesn't want to. Do you understand?"

"I think so," Edward replied. "If a man wants to have sex with you, but you don't want to and he does it anyway, that is rape?"

Leah nodded. "Rape is a very painful experience for the victim, and many people who have been raped commit suicide because of it."

"Were you raped?" Edward asked. This rape thing definitely didn't sound good, and it might be the reason why Leah was so upset.

She shook her head. "No. He tried, but someone came and he didn't have the time,"

"Did he hurt you terribly?" Edward asked carefully, not wanting to upset her.

"Not so much. I sprained my ankle when I fell, and I'll have some bruises for a few days, but I'll be fine."

"I'm glad you're alright,"

"Me too, Edward. Me too. I'm just gonna go change my shirt, then I probably have to go home. I don't want them to worry too much,"

After she changed her shirt, Edward followed her to the front door.

"Will you be back tomorrow?" he asked hopefully, and Leah chuckled.

"Off course I will. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye,"

"Good night," Edward called after her, and Leah could feel her lips form a goofy grin.

"Good lord child, what's happened to you?" were the first words Leah heard as she walked through the front door at home.

"I'm fine mom, I promise you,"

Her mom gasped. "You're not fine, what happened?"

Leah knew that she couldn't tell her mother the truth, so she decided to lie. "I was running down the hill and I lost my footing. Other than a sprained ankle I'm fine,"

Her mother looked doubtful at her, but accepted the lie anyway. "I'll go draw you a bath, dinner's in an hour,"

Later, as Leah was soaking in the bath, she thought back on the events of the day. Being nearly raped sure put some perspective on things. She dreaded school tomorrow. It was usually bad, but now it would be unbearable. "It's not gonna work," she sighed. Stroking back her wet hair, Leah flinched a bit when her fingers came into contact with the bruise on her face. She didn't know why everybody was so mean to her in school. She spent most of her time by herself, didn't get in anyone's way and never sad anything bad or stuck up for herself when the picked on her. Until today. Sighing again Leah closed her eyes.

"You think you can go to school today, Leah?" Leah's mother asked her the morning after as the whole family was seated around the breakfast table.

Leah shook her head. "My ankle still hurts a lot,"

That was a complete lie. Her ankle had stopped hurting after her bath last night, but she really didn't wanna go to school. The memories of the previous day made her skin crawl, and she didn't want to face her classmates just yet.

"I guess you can stay home today," her mother said, and took a bite out of her fried sausage.

"As long as it doesn't become a habit," Leah's father said sternly.

"Off course not dad," she replied, a smile on her face.

"Finally they're gone!" Leah muttered as she waved goodbye to her parents. Walking up the stairs and into her room, she started to roam her closer for something to wear. Halfway through she stopped when a thought popped into her mind. _'Since when have I ever dressed up to go see Edward?' _she shrugged of that thought quickly, and then continued to get dressed.

"This will have to do," she muttered to herself as she stood in front of the mirror an hour later. She had chosen a light blue tank top, jeans and had put up her hazelnut coloured hair in a ponytail. Grabbing her backpack from the floor she put in a few books before heading downstairs.

"I need food," she said out loud when she passed the kitchen, and roamed through the cupboards for the food.

After finding everything she needed Leah grabbed her jacket and locked the front door on her way out. The sun's warm rays hit her directly in the face, and she took a moment just to relish in the sun.

As she walked towards Edward's castle with bounce in her step, Leah's mind was on her black-clad friend. They had been friends for almost a year now, even though for her, it felt longer. They had met on Halloween, when she had gotten a dare involving the castle. Originally, Leah's classmate Kim had been the one who was given the dare, but she had backed out.

_Flashback_

"_Okay, it's not as scary as it looks. It's just an abandoned old castle, nothing to be afraid of, I get to leave in the morning" Leah said to herself as she walked with hesitant steps up the dark road. Much to her dismay, her voice sounded as weak and scared as she felt. _

_When she walked through the heavy iron gates, she found herself in a garden full of hedge sculptures. There was a stag, a sea serpent, a giant hand… Leah looked around, mesmerized by their perfection._

"_Okay, here goes nothing," Leah muttered, and then slowly opened the door to the castle. In the castle there stood ice sculptures, a thousand times more stunning than the hedges. She pressed her finger on the icy paw of a bear. The ice melted slightly, a trail of cold water running down towards the ground. _

"_Please don't touch," said a quiet voice behind her. "They melt."_

"_Oh, I'm sorry," Leah said__, turning around. "I was just…" she trailed of in shock._

_The man that stood before her__ wore a suit entirely of black leather. His hair was jet black and stood out in every which way. His pale face was filled with scars. What made her blood run cold, though, were his hands. Or lack of hands, rather. Instead of hands, he had scissors, a foot long each. They were held out from his sides, twitching slightly as if he was afraid._

"_I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude,__" Leah said nervously, slowly backing away. "I'm gonna leave now, just don't hurt me,"_

_A sad look crossed his face, much like a hurt puppy's. "Please don't go. I won't hurt you,"_

_Leah stopped. This was unexpected. He looked dangerous, but there was something in his eyes that told her that he wouldn't harm her. "It's okay… So what's your name?"_

"_Edward,__" he answered, and she gave him a small smile._

"_I'm Leah,"_

_End flashback_

Leah was pulled from her thoughts when she realized that she was standing outside the gate. As soon as she walked through, she saw Edward coming walking towards her.

"You came," he couldn't keep the excitement out of his voice, and Leah could only laugh.

"Off course I did, I told you I would, didn't I?" she said, and Edward gave a small smile. "Now come on, I've got some books for you,"

Edward beamed; he loved books, even though he couldn't turn the pages himself. After giving him a smile, Leah gestured for them to go inside.

Sitting in the living-room a few minutes later, Leah opened the first book and started to read it to Edward.

As she read, he sat completely still, watching her intently. Edward enjoyed watching her read. She would half-smile when she read something amusing, and her brow would crinkle if she read something strange. A piece of her hair that was too short to put back with the rest of it would always fall in her face, and she would always sweep it away with the same movement. She was graceful, like a ballerina, and Edward couldn't wait for it to be cold so that he could make an ice sculpture of her dancing.

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Okay, so that was chapter 2. Please leave feedback :)


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: This is chapter 3, and I hope you'll like it. I probably won't be able to update anything next week, I have 5 exams and 2 papers due so I'm pretty swamped. I might get another chapter up during the weekend though, I'm not sure yet.

Disclaimer: I don't own Edward Scissorhands, only Leah.

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**To hold and protect**

**Chapter 3**

"Now remember," Leah said to Edward when she was standing by the gates. "I'll come by around three or four tomorrow, but don't panic if I'm a bit late, okay?"

Edward nodded, his scissors snipping nervously. "Will-will you be alright? The man who attacked you..."

"I'll be fine Edward, I promise. I doubt I'll ever see him again," the last part was a lie, but she didn't want him to worry too much. "Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself."

"But I do worry,"

"You don't have to," she assured him, "I'll see you tomorrow,"

As she walked downhill and towards her house, it was with panic she realized that she had been gone too long, and that her parents were already home. When she walked through the front-door however, there were no angry parents there to scold her. Instead, her mother's laughter could be heard from the living-room.

"Mom, dad?" she called out as she walked towards the living-room. What she saw made her stop in shock. Sitting between her parents on the couch was no one other than David; whom her parents had been trying to set her up with for quite some time.

"Hello Leah," he said with a smile that to him was charming, but to Leah it was only creepy.

"Hi David. How've you been?"

"Great, you?"

"Okay,"

"Why don't you sit down Leah?" her mother said with a bright smile, and Leah walked mechanically over to an armchair and sat down. "David wanted to come over and say hi, wasn't that thoughtful of him?"

"Very," she replied, sarcasm hidden in her voice.

"David and his family are coming over for dinner on Saturday, so I want you to stay home and help me,"

Leah felt her insides freeze. She had to go and see Edward on Saturday. "Uh...I can't,"

Her mother gave her a sceptical look.

"I'm tutoring a girl from my class in English, and I promised her that I'd help her on Saturday,"

"What's her name?" Leah's father questioned.

"Kim," Leah answered quickly, and then reminded herself to ask Kim for a cover in school tomorrow. "Can I be excused? I have homework." After getting a nod from her mother, she stood up and left the living-room. She was stopped at the bottom of the stairs by a voice.

"Leah!"

Leah turned around to see David stand there.

"I was wondering if you'd like to go on a date with me tomorrow night?"

Leah hesitated. It wasn't that David was ugly; his surfer look were many girls dream. Girls that weren't Leah, that is.

The answer 'no' was on the tip of her tongue but just was she was going to answer, she saw her mother standing in the doorway to the living-room. Seeing the look she gave her, a 'you better be nice to him or else' look, Leah internally sighed. Then she put on a shiny smile. "Sure, why not? I can be ready at 7, that work for you David?"

David nodded.

"Right then, I'll see you tomorrow," Leah gave David another smile, shot her mother a look, and then disappeared up the stairs.

When she came up to her room, she threw herself on her bed. "Why did I say yes?" she said out loud, frustrated with herself. "I don't even like him."

She closed her eyes, trying to visualize David in front of her. Still, she found herself yearning for black messy hair instead of blond; sad, soft brown eyes instead of blue; pale skin and black leather instead of a trimmed body and sporty clothes. Opening her eyes, she sat up with a bolt. _'Oh my God!'_, she thought. _'Am I falling in love with my best friend?'_

"Kim, wait up!" Leah ran up to Kim, who tossed her light red hair over her shoulder.

"Hi Leah, did you want something?"

Leah smiled. "I was kinda looking for a favor actually,"

Kim looked surprised at the brunette.

"I told my parents that I'm going over to your house to study tomorrow. If they call, could you please tell them that I'm in the bathroom or something? I didn't mean to put you on the line, but your name was the first one that popped into my head."

Kim gave her a sweet smile. "Off course I'll cover for you. It's no problem at all," she said, and then looked over at the parking lot. "I gotta go, Jim's waiting for me. Bye," she said, and then ran up to Jim, her boyfriend. Leah looked after her, still a bit surprised that Kim had agreed. The two girls weren't exactly friends, but they weren't enemies either. Kim was one of the few in Leah's class that treated her nice; to everybody else she was just the freak. Stealing a glance at her watch, she saw that it was time for lunch, and walked with reluctant steps to the cafeteria. She didn't like to eat in there, for the most of the time she had no one to sit with, and eating alone wasn't fun.

Leah smiled as she sat in art class 30 minutes later. Art was her favourite subject; she loved to draw. Mostly she drew Edward, but was always very careful of not showing them to anyone. Seeing something in the corner of her eye, Leah quickly turned her head and looked out the window. _'Huh, I swear I saw Edward'_ shaking off that thought, she continued with her assignment. _'It couldn't have been Edward, probably just my eyes playing tricks on me'_

Edward hadn't meant to go out, he really hadn't. But then he had thought about Leah. He had to make sure that she was okay. He had gone out when it was still dark outside, staying hidden in the shadows. He didn't wanna be seen, and he hadn't been. When he was at her school, though, Leah had almost spotted him. He hadn't been as careful as he should have. Edward couldn't help it though; she had looked so beautiful. Her dark copper brown hair had shone in red tones in the sunlight, and her hazel eyes were fixed on her paper. _'She looks like an angel'_ had been his first thought. _'And she is in a way...she's my angel'_

"Edward?" Leah called out as she stepped through the front-door of the castle. "Edward, where are you?" when she still didn't receive an answer, she went into the place he was most likely to be. The attic. When she came up to the attic, she saw him standing under the hole in the roof. The sun was starting to set, casting an orange glow over the dark attic.

"Hi Leah," Edward said softly as Leah came up to him.

"Hi Edward. I'm sorry I'm late,"

He gave her a small smile. "It's okay. Do you wanna go sit in the garden?"

Leah nodded. "Sure, let's go,"


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Chapter 4 of To hold and protect. This will be my late update for at least a week, just so you know.

Disclaimer: I don't own Edward Scissorhands, only Leah.

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**To hold and protect**

**Chapter four**

"Leah Erica Travers, you are not wearing that on your date!" Leah's mother exclaimed as Leah walked down the stairs dressed in tan cargo pants and a black tank top.

"Why not?" she replied as she grabbed her jacket and put it on.

"You look like your just going to school. You're going on a date, you have to dress up,"

"I have dressed up," Leah said in her defence.

"Where?"

"I'm not wearing jeans, am I?"

Her mother was just about to answer when the doorbell rang. Leah opened it and smiled at David, who was standing on the other side of the door.

"Hi David,"

"Hi Leah, you look amazing. Are you ready to go?"

She nodded. "Sure. Bye mom," she shut the door behind her and followed David to his car. "What's this?" Leah asked when they were both seated and David handed her a piece of cloth.

"Blindfold. Our location is a surprise," he added when he saw Leah's look. After he got her permission he put the blindfold on her and then started to drive.

Leah was only a bit worried. She knew that David wouldn't do anything she didn't want to do, but she couldn't helo but to wonder where they were going and why it was a secret. She liked David as a friend, but that didn't meant that she trusted him. They only drove for a few minutes, and Leah noticed that most of that time was spent driving uphill.

"Here we are," David said as he pulled of the blindfold. Leah's eyes turned as big as saucers. They were parked outside the gates to the castle.

"Can't we go somewhere else? I don't wanna be here," she coaxed, but David shook her off.

"No, it's cool. Come on!" David stepped out of the car and Leah couldn't do much else than to follow him.

"Can't we please go somewhere else?" Leah practically begged, but David just shook his head.

"Let's go inside," he said after looking around the garden for a few minutes. Leah followed him anxiously, this was not a good idea. "This place is freaky." David chuckled as he walked through the front door.

"Please David, let's leave," Leah tried desperately to get them out of there, but to no avail.

"If you wanna be a big cry-baby and run home to mommy do that, but I'm not leaving," he spat at her, and Leah felt herself beginning to panic. "I wonder what's on the second floor..." he said to himself, looking up at the winding stairs.

'_Edward's up in the attic!'_ Leah thought, now in full panic. "David, come and look at this!" she knew that the chance of him actually falling for that was slim, but it was the only thing she in her panic-stricken mind could come up with. Unbelievably, David turned around and walked up to her.

"What is it?" he asked, and Leah desperatley tried to come up with something. Then, a thin leather-clad figure appeared at the top of the stairs, draving Leah's attention to him. David, who saw that she wasn't looking at him anymore, started to turn his head. To Leah, what happened next went in slow motion. Seeing Edward seconds away from being discovered, she did the only thing she could think of. She grabbed David's head and pressed her mouth against his in a hard kiss. Hoping that Edward had gotten the message and disappeared upstairs, she opened her eyes.

When David started to french kiss her, he moved his head giving Leah a clear view of the stairs. Edward still stood on the top; now with a heart-breaking look on his face that made her wanna cry. Putting her arms up around David's shoulders, she gestured for Edward to leave. She kept her eyes focused on him until he had completely disappeared from her vision, and then broke off the kiss.

"What do you say we get out of here?" she said, not liking how seductive she sounded.

"That sounds like a good idea," he replied, and started to walk to the door. Leah followed him, and soon they were once again sitting in his car.

David started the car and Leah replied the smile he gave her with one of her own.

Looking up at the top floor, Leah was sure she saw Edward, standing looking at them through the window. _'I'm sorry Edward'_

"Do you wanna go out some other time?" David asked when they were standing outside her front door.

"I dunno David," Leah said tentatively. "It's been great and all, but I like you more as a friend."

His face fell. "Oh, okay. Well, I hope that we can be friends,"

"I'd like that," she smiled. "I better go inside." With a last smile she went inside. The very second she stepped through the front door, her mother attached her with questions.

"Are you going to see him again?"

"No mom, I'm not. We decided we're better of as friends,"

Her mother looked shocked at her. "But you would be perfect for each other. He's so good looking, every girls dream,"

"Why don't you date him then mom?" Leah shot back before she rushed up the stairs and into her room, locking the door behind her. Emotionally drained, she slid down on the floor. She buried her face in her hands, feeling tears leak through her fingers. Then she started crying for real with hard sobs that shook her entire body.

'_How could I be so stupid?'_, she thought_. 'I could have done anything to lead of his attention. Did I have to kiss him? I have to make it up to Edward somehow. Why do I feel like I betrayed Edward by kissing another guy?'_

After 10 minutes, Leah couldn't cry anymore. Instead she put on her pj:s and went to bed. Thinking about ways to make up her behaviour to Edward, she sat up with a bolt.

"I got it!" she said. "The halloween dance!"


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Despite that I've put this fic on hiatus I'll post one more chapter of it, since I've written only 5 chapters of it. Due a lot of reasons, the biggest one being lack of interest in continuing this story, I am not going to continue post chapters. I'm terribly sorry for just leaving it unfinished; so I might, just might, write you an ending to get closure on this fic. Don't expect too much though.

Disclaimer: I don't own Edward Scissorhands, only Leah.

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**To hold and protect**

**Chapter 5**

Leah packed her bag with everything she would need, and then walked downstairs. It was only 9 am, a week before Halloween.

Pulling her jacket closer to her body, Leah shivered as the cold October weather hit her. It was chilly like this in the morning, but the sun would come up to warm more during midday. On her way to the castle, she thought about Edward, and if he would accept her apology or not. The Halloween dance was the perfect opportunity; everybody would take Edward's appearance for a costume.

Looking up at the castle, Leah noticed that it looked darker and more frightening than usual. Not knowing what to say to him, she took her time on her way up. Still, when she finally arrived after half an hour, she hadn't figured out what to say to Edward.

As she walked through the gates and looked around the garden, she stopped in shock, her bag sliding from her numb fingers and onto the ground. The sculpture of her and Edward he had done only a few days ago was completely torn up. The heads had been cut off, and it looked like he just had gone in a ballistic rage on it.

Leah felt tears prick in the corners of her eyes. _'Oh my God, what have I done?'_

Almost afraid, she picked up her bag and carefully made her way into the castle. "Edward?" she called out tentatively, but received no answer. She only hesitated for a second before slowly walking upstairs.

Leah found him in the attic, huddling in a dark corner. "Edward?" she called out sofly, but he made no sign that he had heard her. _'Okay, I need to get my apology out, even if he won't answer me' _"Edward, I'm so sorry about yesterday. I didn't know where we were going, I swear. The minute I saw where we was, I tried to get him to leave," still no answer, Leah continued, now close to tears. "He was seconds away from discovering you, I had to do something to draw his attention from you. I admit, kissing him wasn't the best idea I've ever had, but it was the only thing I could come up with,"

'_I guess he made his choice'_she thought when she still didn't receive an answer.

"I understand that you hate me now, so I'm gonna leave. Have a great life," with big tears falling down her face, Leah turned around to leave. When she had only taken a few steps, his voice stopped her.

"Please don't go," he stood up and walked over to Leah, looking sadder than usual.

"I thought you hated me," Leah said softly, crying shamelessly.

"I could never hate you," he replied quietly, and Leah laughed through the tears.

"God, I'm such a cry-baby," she dried off the tears and touched Edward's cheek lightly. "But I am sorry. About yesterday I mean. Can you forgive me?"

"Off course," Edward nodded. He longed to be able to touch her without risking hurting her. He wanted to be able to hold her, and to kiss her like she had David. But Edward knew that she didn't feel like that for him, and he was okay with that. As long as he was able to be near her he'd be satisfied.

"That's good," she smiled. "Should we go and sit outside? It's such nice weather."

Edward agreed, and they walked downstairs and outside. Leah smiled as the warmth hit her. Edward stopped in front of the shredded sculpture.

"I'm sorry I destroyed your sculpture," he said softly, and Leah walked up to him.

"It's okay, it doesn't matter," she assured him, squeezing his shoulder.

"I'll make you a new one," he said, unable to hide his excitement.

Leah laughed. "That sounds like a good idea. I'll just sit here and watch you," she said and lay down her jacket on the grass before sitting down on it. From her bag she pulled out a drawing pad and some charcoal pencils. In the meantime, Edward had started to transform the broken sculpture into a new one, oblivious to what Leah was doing.

Placing her drawing pad on her lap, Leah started to draw Edward. She loved drawing him with charcoal pencils, it gave him a more dramatic look than if she drew him with regular pencils. In the middle of drawing his eyes, she remembered what she had come up with to make him forgive her. "Edward?"

Edward looked up from the sculpture. "Yes?"

"Next Friday there's a Halloween dance at my school, and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me?"

Edward couldn't believe what he was hearing. Did she want to be seen in public with him, and at her school too? He, who was a monster, with the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen.

"I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to, I just thought that-"

"I'd love to go with you," he said, and Leah smiled.

"It's gonna be great. I was thinking; the dance starts at 7, and school ends at 3.30, so maybe I should come pick you up after school and then you can wait at my house,"

Edward looked nervously at her. "What about your-"

"Parents? They work until 6, so they won't be home until we're leaving. I'll just introduce you to them, and to everybody else, as my good friend Edward from New York,"

"That sounds good," Edward said and gave her a small smile.

"It's gonna be great," Leah replied enthusiastically and then continued on her drawing. Edward watched her for a minute, and then continued on the sculpture.

"Open up," Leah ordered and stuck a piece of meat in Edward's mouth. It was lunchtime, and the two friends had gone up to the attic to eat. They were currently sitting on the floor, Leah feeding Edward since he couldn't use a fork. "I don't usually like broccoli, bit it was the only vegetable we had at home." She said as she quite happily stuck a piece of broccoli in her mouth.

"I thought it was good," Edward said, and Leah chuckled.

"Well, yeah. You'll eat anything,"

Edward gave a small smile. "Well, you don't like anything, it's a wonder you're still alive,"

Leah laughed. "I think that's the first time I've heard you make a joke Edward, I'm proud of you,"

Edward secretly beamed. _'She's proud of me.' _


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I promised you an ending, and here it is. I hope that it didn't seem to rushed, I worked hard on making it come up the story's standard. Anywho, enjoy and don't forget to leave a review.

Disclaimer: I don't own Edward Scissorhands, only Leah.

* * *

**To hold and protect**

**Chapter six**

Monday came quietly to Leah. The whole Sunday had been spent trying to find the perfect Halloween costume. She had, without luck, not found one yet and she felt herself beginning to get frustrated.

'_Very well'_ she thought, _'I'll have plenty of time to find a costume tomorrow'_

Edward was sitting in the attic, waiting for Leah when he heard a voice. His scissors snipping nervously, he waited tensely. Then he saw her. She was older than Leah, and was wearing pink with a matching hat. Suddenly, she seemed to notice that there was someone other than her there, and she lit up in a smile. As she spoke Edward, carefully walked out of his shadowy hiding place, and walked towards her. Although he was nervous about this new person, he still stood up straight. The inventor had taught him to behave properly while in the company of a lady.

"Hello. Hello. Why are you hiding back there? You don't have to hide from me. I'm Peg Boggs. I'm your local Avon representative and I'm as harmless as cherry pie," her voice changed as she saw his hands. "Oh my! I can see that I've disturbed you. How stupid of me! I'll just be going now." She backed away, and Edward felt his heart speed up. He didn't want to be alone, even though he knew that Leah would be here in a few hours.

"Don't go," He held out his arms to her, scissors snipping, and Peg looked from one to the other.

"Oh my! What happened to you?"

"I'm not finished,"

"Uh, put those down," she said nervously. "Don't come any closer. Just please... Those are your hands? Those are your hands. What happened to you? Where are your parents? Hum... Your mother? Your father?

"He didn't wake up,"

"Are you alone? Do you live up here all by yourself? What happened to your face? Hum, you

know, I won't hurt you. But at the very least let me give you a good astringent and this will help to prevent infection. What's your name?"

"Edward,"

"Edward? I think you should just come home with me,"

Edward hesitated. He had to be there when Leah came, or else she'd be worried. But the older lady was so nice. _'I'll go with her for a while, and then come back' _he thought, satisfied with this solution.

"Damn it!" she muttered when she looked at the clock. It was already 4, and the teacher was still yapping about something. Leah was getting more and more frustrated by the second, Edward would be worried if she was late. After what felt like hours, the teacher stopped and dismissed the class. Leah grabbed her bag and almost ran out of the classroom, knowing that she was late. As she walked out to the parking lot she reached into her bag to check that the sandwiches she had stolen for Edward at lunch was still there. He liked ham and mayo, so she had wrapped the sandwiches in some paper. Not watching where she was going, she let out a surprised yelp when she tripped over something. Picking herself up off the ground she swore like a sailor before brushing the dirt off her pants and rushing to her bike.

"Crap, crap, crap, crap," she repeated as she cycled as fast as she could up the hill. The countless times she had gone up there had kept her in good shape, and she was hardly out of breath when she reached the top.

Leaning her bike against the stairs she straightened down her shirt and opened the heavy door. The air inside was dusty and stale, but she didn't think so much of it.

"Edward? Sorry I'm late, I got held up in school. I brought you sandwiches; ham and mayo, just the way you like'em," when she received no answer, she started to walk upstairs. "Edward? Where are you?" she called out. When she reached the top, she looked around. "That's weird," she said out loud when she didn't see Edward there. Checking every dark corner at least once again, she then sighed.

Walking downstairs again, she went out to the garden, thinking he might be there; working on a new sculpture. But, there was still no sign of him.

"This is not good," she said, frowning. Edward never went outside the gates. Never. He never went down on the long road that went up to the mansion, even though he couldn't be seen from there. Finally admitting defeat, Leah grabbed her bike and went back home again. Going straight to her room, she lay down her bed, her mind in a jumble.

This was very unusual; not once in the year she had known him had Edward not been there when she came to see him. He was too scared, too shy to go outside the gates. With Edward on her mind, Leah fell asleep.

As Leah went down for Breakfast the next morning; something very odd met her. Her mother was talking on the phone, with the voice she only used when she was talking gossip. Leah only caught bits and pieces of the conversation as she dug through the refrigerator.

"Peg brought home a guest?...A man?...What did you say about his hands, they're scissors?"

Leah's head flew up so fast she banged it against one of the shelves. Turning around to look at her mother, her eyes became wide. It all fit! Edward's sudden disappearance, Peg's new guest. Not waiting another second, she rushed from the kitchen and grabbed her jacket before going outside. For once, she was glad that Suburbia was so small, it wouldn't take her more than 3 or 4 minutes to get to the Boggs's house.

As she reached the house, she rang the doorbell. While she was waiting impatiently for someone to answer, she tried to look in the window, but to no avail.

"Yes?" Peg had opened the door, smiling at Leah.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, Mrs Boggs, but I really need to see Edward."

Peg's facial expression went from happy to shock. "Edward? How do you know Edward dear?"

"That's not important. Now can I please see him?"

Peg looked hesitantly at the young girl before letting her in. "He's in Kim's room."

Leah gave her a small smile, and then walked towards Kim's room. Taking a deep breath outside the half closed door, she then knocked on it lightly.

"Come in," came the soft reply, and Leah walked in.

Edward was standing by the closet dressed in gray slacks, a white shirt and what looked like the remains of a pair of suspenders. He looked up when he heard her come in, and his eyes widened.

"Leah, I was going to go see you,"

"Well now you don't have to," Leah said, and then went forwards and gave him a hug. "But you did scare me. I came up to see you and you weren't there."

"I'm sorry," Edward said sincerely. He hadn't meant to scare her.

"I brought you sandwiches and everything," she said, pouting a bit.

"Ham and mayo?" Edward said enthusiastically, and Leah laughed.

"Yeah, ham and mayo," she smiled, but then got a serious look on her face. "Edward, do you want to stay here?"

Edward looked bewildered at her.

"We don't know how people will react when they meet you. I'm not sure that this'll all be good,"

"Peg has been nice to me,"

Leah touched his cheek gently. "I'll leave it up to you. If you want to stay down here in Suburbia, you do that. I'll be right behind you no matter what"

Edward was torn in two directions. On one hand, Peg had been nice to him and made him want to stay here. On the other hand, even though she said she supported him no matter how he chose, he could see in Leah's eyes that she was worried. Hesitating for a second, he then took a deep breath before answering.

"I want to go back up,"

Leah couldn't help but to feel relieved. She knew that part of his decision was because of her, but she thought it was the right decision. People always react to what's different, and their reaction might not be a good one.

"How's it going?" Peg's sweet voice sounded from the doorway, and both Edward and Leah looked at her. When Peg saw the serious looks on both their faces, she brought her hand up to her mouth. "What's wrong?"

"I want to go back up," Edward said softly.

Peg looked at him. "But, who will take care of you?"

"I will," Leah said, gaining new confidence.

"I'm sorry Peg," Edward said softly.

Leah looked up at him. "You have nothing to apologise for," then she turned to Peg. "I know that by now almost every woman knows that you have a male guest with scissors for hands. No matter how much you deny it, they won't give it a rest. We need to think of something that will make them forget about Edward."

"I could tell them that a dear friend of mine wanted some help with the last alternations to his Halloween costume. It is after all only 2 weeks left,"

Leah nodded. "That would be the best," then she looked at Edward, who had been standing quiet this entire time. "You ready to go back home?"

Edward felt a strange sensation in his stomach at the way she said 'home'. Like it was her home too. But instead of letting it show, he just smiled at her and nodded. "Let's go home,"

Leah gave Peg's shoulder a squeeze, and then gently placed a hand on Edward's shoulder. "Let's go,"

Peg followed them to the door, and then stood and watched as they walked away. Leah's arm was tucked around his waist, and Edward held one arm awkwardly around her shoulders, careful not to cut her. _'Those two has something special'_ Peg thought as she watched them leave. _'They just don't know it yet'_

She stood there until she couldn't see the odd couple anymore, the entire time with a smile on her face. Then she sighed. _'I better go finish the laundry'_

THE END


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